Mexico City, Mexico, July 25, 2014 - Kenya's women's national team arrived in Mexico City on Tuesday evening after a 27-hour journey from Nairobi. Coach David Lungaho's team will play hosts Mexico in Pool Q on Friday at the Olympic Gymnasium Juan de la Barrera.

The team is one of two African representatives in the competition – alongside Algeria. The team departed Nairobi on Monday at 19.00 local time for an eight hour flight to Amsterdam. After an eight hour wait for a connecting flight, they boarded another flight at the Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam at 14.00 for a twelve hour journey that saw them arrive in Mexico City on Tuesday at 18.00 (Wednesday 02.00 – Kenyan time), before going through another grueling one-hour checking-out process.

Kenya coach David Lungaho told Nation Sport: "The journey was OK but very tiring. Thankfully, we have time now to recover and even prepare for the opening match against Mexico."

Kenya are in the same Pool as hosts Mexico, Algeria, Bulgaria and Kazakhstan. The five teams are now all in Mexico for the event.

"This is our World Cup, and so we are here to do Kenya and the entire continent proud,” team captain Blackcides Agala said.

While in transit, the reigning African champions displayed commendable unity and team spirit, cracking jokes and bonding in a way that probably highlights their successful returns on the continent.

The team had successful training sessions in Mexico to prepare for the tournament opening against host Mexico.